12 Ways To Exercise Your Dog Indoors

The snow is starting to get to many here in the frozen Northeast corridor of the country.

Another 4 to 8 inches is on the way. You can see the anger and frustration on Facebook. Most conversations discuss the relentless amount of snow that just keeps coming week after week.

Even the local paper is concerned with dogs getting enough exercise during this long stretch of cold and snow.

I know this because they contacted me asking if it could be done. Could a dog owner effectively exercise their dog to prevent them from going stir crazy?

“YES!” was my answer and I rattled off 12 ways that any dog owner can exercise their dogs indoors.

So if you find yourself homebound because of the weather, here are the 12 ways:

Treadmill.

Tug games.

Kibble hunt.

Hide n seek.

Stuffed Kong toys.

Buster cubes.

Trick training.

Puppy push ups (sit, down, sit, down).

Retrieving down a hallway or stairs.

Obstacle course, A couch, table, hoola hoop, box, and a chair can make a great indoor obstacle course.

Find it game.

Obedience training.

Before I head out I just want to add that dogs need to get physical AND mental exercise. You’ll see that I included trick and obedience training. Most people would not consider those exercise but they are. They exercise your dog’s brain which I would contend is often more important than physical exercise.

The next time your dog seems to be bouncing off the wall, grab some treats and spend 10 to 15 minutes doing some training and watch the difference in your dog.